PHYSICAL REVIEW E 75, 036106 共2007兲

Geographical networks evolving with an optimal policy 1

Yan-Bo Xie,1 Tao Zhou,1,2,* Wen-Jie Bai,3 Guanrong Chen,2 Wei-Ke Xiao,4 and Bing-Hong Wang1

Department of Modern Physics and Nonlinear Science Center, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China 2 Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China 4 Center for Astrophysics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China 共Received 21 June 2006; revised manuscript received 26 November 2006; published 8 March 2007兲 In this article we propose a growing network model based on an optimal policy involving both topological and geographical measures. In this model, at each time step, a node, having randomly assigned coordinates in a 1 ⫻ 1 square, is added and connected to a previously existing node i, which minimizes the quantity r2i / ki␣, where ri is the geographical distance, ki the degree, and ␣ a free parameter. The degree distribution obeys a power-law form when ␣ = 1, and an exponential form when ␣ = 0. When ␣ is in the interval 共0, 1兲, the network exhibits a stretched exponential distribution. We prove that the average topological distance increases in a logarithmic scale of the network size, indicating the existence of the small-world property. Furthermore, we obtain the geographical edge length distribution, the total geographical length of all edges, and the average geographical distance of the whole network. Interestingly, we found that the total edge length will sharply increase when ␣ exceeds the critical value ␣c = 1, and the average geographical distance has an upper bound independent of the network size. All the results are obtained analytically with some reasonable approximations, which are well verified by simulations. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.75.036106

PACS number共s兲: 89.75.Hc, 87.23.Ge, 05.40.⫺a, 05.90.⫹m

I. INTRODUCTION

Since the seminal works on the small-world phenomenon by Watts and Strogatz 关1兴 and the scale-free property by Barabási and Albert 关2兴, the studies of complex networks have attracted a lot of interest within the physical community 关3–6兴. Most of the previous works focus on the topological properties 共i.e., nongeographical properties兲 of the networks. In this sense, every edge is of length 1, and the topological distance between two nodes is simply defined as the number of edges along the shortest path connecting them. To ignore the geographical effects is reasonable for some networked systems 共e.g., food webs 关7兴, citation networks 关8兴, metabolic networks 关9兴兲, where the Euclidean coordinates of nodes and the lengths of edges have no physical meanings. Yet, many real-life networks, such as transportation networks 关10,11兴, the internet 关12,13兴, and power grids 关14,15兴, have welldefined node positions and edge lengths. In addition to the topologically preferential attachment introduced by Barabási and Albert 关2兴, some recent works have demonstrated that the spatially preferential attachment mechanism also plays a major role in determining the network evolution 关16–18兴. Very recently, some authors have investigated the spatial structures of the so-called optimal networks 关19,20兴. An optimal network has a given size and an optimal linking pattern, and is obtained by a certain global optimization algorithm 共e.g., simulated annealing兲 with an objective function involving both geographical and topological measures. Their works provide some guidelines in network design. However, the majority of real networks are not fixed, but grow continuously. Therefore, to study growing networks with an optimal

*Electronic address: [email protected] 1539-3755/2007/75共3兲/036106共8兲

policy is not only of theoretical interest, but also of practical significance. In this paper, we propose a growing network model, in which, at each time step, one node is added and connected to some existing nodes according to an optimal policy. The degree distribution, edge-length distribution, and topological as well as geographical distances are analytically obtained subject to some reasonable approximations, which are well verified by simulations. II. MODEL

Consider a square of size 1 ⫻ 1 with open boundary condition, that is, a open set 共0 , 1兲 ⫻ 共0 , 1兲 in Euclidean space R2, where “⫻” signifies the Cartesian product. This model starts with m fully connected nodes inside the square, all with randomly assigned coordinates. Since there exists m nodes initially, the discrete time steps in the evolution are counted as t = m + 1 , m + 2 , . . .. Then, at the tth time step 共t ⬎ m兲, a new node with randomly assigned coordinates is added to the network. Rank each previously existing node according to the following measure:

␻i = 兩rជi − rជt兩2/ki␣共t兲,

i = 1,2, . . . ,t − 1,

共1兲

and the node having the smallest ␻ is arranged on the top. Here, each node is labeled by its entering time, rជt represents the position of the tth node, ki共t兲 is the degree of the ith node at time t, and ␣ 艌 0 is a free parameter. The newly added node will connect to m existing nodes that have the smallest ␻ 共i.e., on the top of the queue兲. All the simulations and analyses shown in this paper are restricted to the specific case m = 1, since the analytical approach is only valid for the tree structure with m = 1. However, we have checked that all the results will not change qualitatively if m is not too large compared with the network size.

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1

0.5

0.5

0

0

0.5

1

0

0

a 1

0.5

0.5

0

0.5

c

1

b

1

0

0.5

1

0

0

0.5

1

d

FIG. 1. Some network examples for different values of ␣: 共a兲 ␣ = 0, 共b兲 ␣ = 0.5, 共c兲 ␣ = 1, 共d兲 ␣ = 2. All the four networks are of size N = 300 and m = 1.

In real geographical networks, short edges are always dominant since constructing long edges will cost more 关21兴. On the other hand, connecting to the high-degree nodes will make the average topological distance from the new node to all the previous nodes shorter. These two ingredients are described by the numerator and denominator of Eq. 共1兲, respectively. In addition, the weights of these two ingredients are usually not equal. For example, the airline travelers worry more about the number of sequential connections 关11兴, the railway travelers and car drivers consider more about geographical distances 关10兴, and the bus riders often simultaneously think of both factors 关22兴. In the present model, if ␣ = 0, only the geographical ingredient is taken into account. At another extreme, if ␣ → ⬁, the geographical effect vanishes. Figure 1 shows some examples for different values of ␣. When only the geographical ingredient is considered 共␣ = 0兲, most edges are very short and the degree distribution is very narrow. In the case of ␣ = 0.5, the average geographical length of edges becomes longer, and the degree distribution becomes broader. When ␣ = 1, the scale-free structure emerges and a few hub nodes govern the whole network evolution. As ␣ becomes very large, the network becomes starlike.

FIG. 2. Numerical simulation about the relation between Si and ki. The solid line represents the assumption Si ⬀ ki␣. In this simulation, we first generate a network of size N = 10 000 by using the present optimal growing policy. To detect Si, some test nodes with randomly assigned coordinates are used, and for each test node, following Eq. 共1兲, the existing nodes with minimal ␻ is awarded one point. The test node will be removed from the network after testing. The area Si for the ith node is approximately estimated as the ratio of the score node i has eventually obtained after all the testings to the total number of test nodes. The simulation shown here is obtained from 30 000 test nodes, and the parameter ␣ = 0.9 is fixed.

of this assumption. Accordingly, by using the mean-field theory 关2兴, an analytic solution of degree distribution can be obtained. However, when ␣ ⬎ 1, most edges are connected to one single node 关see Fig. 1共d兲兴, so analytic solution is unavailable. Here, we only consider the case of 1 艌 ␣ 艌 0. Assume t

ki␣共t兲 ⬇ At, 兺 i=1

where A is a constant that can be determined selfconsistently. Using the continuum approximation in time variable t, the evolving of node i’s degree reads k␣ dki共t兲 Si = i , = t dt At 兺 Si

共3兲

i

with the initial condition ki共i兲 = 1. The solution is ki共t兲 = F共t/i兲, where

III. DEGREE DISTRIBUTION

冉

F共x兲 = 1 +

At the tth time step, there are t − 1 preexisting nodes. The square can be divided into t − 1 regions such that if a new node is fallen inside the ith region Si, i 苸 兵1 , 2 , . . . , t − 1其, the quantity 兩rជi − rជt兩2 / ki␣共t兲 is minimized, thus the new node will attach an edge to the ith node. Since the coordinate of the new node is randomly selected inside the square, the probability of connecting with the ith node is equal to the area of Si. If the positions of nodes are uniformly distributed, statistically, the area of Si is approximately proportional to ki␣共t兲 with a time factor h共t兲 as Si ⬃ h共t兲ki␣共t兲. Figure 2 shows the typical simulation results, which strongly support the validity

共2兲

共4兲

1−␣ ln共x兲 A

冊

1/共1−␣兲

共5兲

.

Accordingly, the degree distribution can be obtained as t

P共k兲 =

1 兺 ␦关ki共t兲 − k兴 = t i=1

A = 兰10duF␣共1 / u兲

A k

␣

A共k1−␣−1兲 e 1−␣

.

共6兲

is determined by the condition The constant 兰kP共k兲dk = 具k典 = 2, where 具k典 = 2m = 2 signifies the average degree. The above solution is similar to the one obtained by using the approach of rate equation proposed by Krapivsky et al. 关23兴. In addition, one should note that if ␣ = 1, the

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GEOGRAPHICAL NETWORKS EVOLVING WITH AN…

IV. TOPOLOGICAL DISTANCE

Denote by l共i兲 the topological distance between the ith node and the first node. By using mathematical induction, we can prove that there exists a positive constant M, such that l共t兲 ⬍ M ln共t兲. This proposition can be easily transferred to prove the inequality l共t + 1兲 ⬍ M ln共t + 1兲 under the condition l共i兲 ⬍ M ln共i兲 for 1 艋 i 艋 t. Indeed, since the network has a tree structure, l共i兲 does not depend on time t. Under the framework of the mean-field theory, the iteration equation for l共t兲 reads

(a)

兺

ki␣共t兲l共i兲

1艋i艋t

l共t + 1兲 =

At

共7兲

+ 1,

with the initial condition l共1兲 = 0. Equation 共7兲 can be understood as follows: At the 共t + 1兲th time step, the 共t + 1兲th node has probability ki␣共t兲 / At to connect with the ith node. Since the average topological distance between the ith node and the first node is l共i兲, the topological distance of the 共t + 1兲th node to the first one is l共i兲 + 1 if it is connected with the ith node. According to the induction assumption,

(b)

FIG. 3. 共Color online兲 The degree distributions for the cases of 共a兲 ␣ = 1 and 共b兲 ␣ = 0.5. The black squares and curves represent simulated and analytic results, respectively. All the data are averaged over 100 independent runs, with network size N = 10 000 共i.e., t = 10 000兲 fixed.

mean-field theory yields a solution P共k兲 ⬃ k−3, which is comparable to the exact analytic solution P共k兲 = 4 / 关k共k + 1兲共k + 2兲兴. Clearly, the degree distribution obeys a power-law form at ␣ = 1, and an exponential form at ␣ = 0. When ␣ is in the interval 共0, 1兲, the networks display the so-called stretched exponential distribution 关24兴: For small ␣, the distribution is close to an exponential one, while for large ␣, it is close to a power law. This result is in accordance with the situation of transportation networks. If only the geographical ingredient is taken into account 共e.g., road networks 关19兴兲, then the degree distribution is very narrow. On the contrary, if the topological ingredient plays a major role 共e.g., airport networks 关11兴兲, then the scale-free property emerges. When both the two ingredients are not neglectable 共e.g., bus networks 关22兴兲, the degree distribution is intervenient between powerlaw and exponential ones. Figure 3 shows the simulation results for ␣ = 1 and ␣ = 0.5. The degree distribution follows a power-law form when ␣ = 1, which well agrees with the analytic solution. In the case of ␣ = 0.5, the degree distribution is more exponential. However, it is remarkably broader than that of the Erdös-Rényi model 关25兴. Note that the positions of all the nodes are not completely uniformly distributed, which will affect the degree distribution. This effect becomes more prominent when the geographical ingredient plays a more important role 共i.e., smaller ␣兲. Therefore, although the simulation result for ␣ = 0.5 is in accordance with the analysis qualitatively, the quantitative deviation can be clearly observed.

兺

M

ki␣共t兲ln共i兲

1艋i艋t

l共t + 1兲 ⬍

At

共8兲

+ 1.

Note that, statistically, ki共t兲 ⬎ k j共t兲 if i ⬍ j, therefore,

兺

兺

ki␣共t兲ln共i兲 ⬍

1艋i艋t

1艋i艋t

具k␣共t兲典ln共i兲 =

兺

A ln共i兲,

共9兲

1艋i艋t

where 具 典 denotes the average over all the nodes. Substituting inequality 共9兲 into Eq. 共8兲, we have l共t + 1兲 ⬍

M 兺 ln共i兲 + 1. t 1艋i艋t

共10兲

Rewriting the sum in continuous form, we obtain l共t + 1兲 ⬍

M t

冕

t

ln共x兲dx + 1 ⬍ M ln共t + 1兲.

共11兲

1

According to the mathematical induction principle, we have proved that the topological distance between the ith node and the first node, denoted by l共i兲, could not exceed the order O(ln共i兲). For arbitrary nodes i and j, clearly, the topological distance between them could not exceed the sum l共i兲 + l共j兲, thus the average topological distance 具d典 of the whole network could not exceed the order O(ln共i兲) either. This topological characteristic is referred to as the small-world effect in network science 关1兴, and has been observed in a majority of real networks. Actually, one is able to prove that the order of l共t兲 in the large t limit is equal to ln共t兲 共see the Appendix for details兲. Furthermore, the iteration equation

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XIE et al. t

f共i兲l共i兲 兺 i=1

l共t + 1兲 =

共12兲

+ a共t兲,

t

f共i兲 兺 i=1 for general functions f共i兲 and a共i兲, has the following solution: t−1

f共j + 1兲a共j兲

l共t + 1兲 = l共1兲 + a共t兲 + 兺

j+1

.

共13兲

f共i兲 兺 i=1

j=1

For the two special cases of ␣ = 0 关a共i兲 = 1, f共i兲 = 1兴 and ␣ = 1 关a共i兲 = 1, f共i兲 = 1 / 冑i兴, the solutions are simply l共t兲 = ln共t兲 and l共t兲 = 21 ln共t兲, respectively. In Fig. 4, we report the simulation results about the average distance 具d典 vs network size t. In each case, the data points can be well fitted by a straight line in the semilog plot, indicating the growth tendency 具d典 ⬃ ln共t兲, which agrees well with the analytical solution.

(a)

V. EDGE-LENGTH DISTRIBUTION

Denote by eij the edge between nodes i and j, and the geographical length of edge eij is rij = 兩rជi − rជj兩. When the 共N + 1兲th node is added to the network, the geographical length of its attached edge approximately obeys the distribution

冉

N

r2

Q共r兲 = 2␲r 兺 exp − ␲ i=1

ki␣

兺j k␣j

冊

共14兲

,

where r Ⰶ 1 in the large N limit. The derivation of this formula is described as follows. The probability of the edge length being between r and r + dr is given by the summation 兺iQidr, where Qidr is the probability that ri,N+1 falls between ជ r and r + dr, and the node i minimizes the quantity 兩rN+1 ␣ 2 − rជi兩 / ki among all the N previously existing nodes. This probability is approximately given by

冉 冉

Qi ⬇ 2␲r 兿 1 − j

␲r2k␣j

⬇ 2␲r exp − ␲

ki␣

r2 ki␣

冊

兺j k␣j

冊

共15兲

.

(b)

FIG. 4. 共Color online兲 The average distance vs network size for the cases of 共a兲 ␣ = 1 and 共b兲 ␣ = 0.5. As shown in each inset, the data points can be well fitted by a straight line in the semilog plot, indicating the growth of the average distance approximately obeys the form 具d典 ⬃ ln共t兲. All the data are averaged over five independent runs, where the maximal network size is N = 10 000 共i.e., t = 10 000兲.

The lower boundary in the integral is replaced by 0 in the last step, which is valid only when ␣ ⬍ 1. The cumulative length distribution of the edges at time step T is given by

Straightforwardly, the geographical length distribution of the newly added edge at the tth time step 共the tth edge for short兲 is obtained as

冉

P共t,r兲 = 2␲r 兺 exp − ␲ i

⬇ 2␲rt

冕 冕

1

due

r2 ki␣共t兲

兺j

k␣j 共t兲

P共r兲 =

冊

=

1

0

due−␲Atr

2/F␣共1/u兲

.

冕

T

P共t,r兲dt

1

2 3 2 ␲r A T

冕

− e−␲ATr

−␲Atr2/F␣共1/u兲

1/t

⬇ 2␲rt

1 T

共16兲

1

冋

duF2␣ e−␲Ar

0

2/F␣

冉

1+

␲ATr2 F␣

2/F␣

冊册

冉

,

1+

␲Ar2 F␣

冊 共17兲

where the argument of function F is 1 / u. For 1 / 冑T Ⰶ r Ⰶ 1, the approximate formula for P共r兲 reads

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(a)

FIG. 6. The total edge-length R共t兲 vs parameter ␣ with t = 10 000 fixed. R共t兲 sharply increases when ␣ exceeds the critical value ␣c = 1, which agrees well with the theoretical prediction.

冕 冕

¯共t兲 r =

rP共t,r兲dr

0

=

1

P共t,r兲dr

1

2冑At

FIG. 5. 共Color online兲 The edge-length distributions for the cases of 共a兲 ␣ = 1 and 共b兲 ␣ = 0.5. The black squares and curves represent simulation and analytic results, respectively. All the data are averaged over 100 independent runs, with network size N = 10 000 共i.e., T = 10 000兲 fixed.

2 P共r兲 ⬇ 3 2 ␲r A T

冕

1

duF

0

2␣

冉冊 1 u

duF3␣/2共1/u兲

0

␣

duF 共1/u兲

which is valid only for sufficiently large t and ␣ ⬍ 1. According to Eq. 共22兲, ¯共t兲 r decreases as 1 / 冑t as t increases, which is consistent with the intuition since all the t nodes are embedded into a two-dimensional Euclidean space. It may also be interesting to calculate the total length R共t兲 of all the edges at the time step t as

冕 冑 冕 1

t

r ⬇ R共t兲 = 兺 ¯共i兲

共18兲

i=1

冕

t

dt⬘¯共t r ⬘兲 =

1

t A

duF3␣/2共1/u兲

0

1

. duF␣共1/u兲

0

and, when r Ⰶ 1 / 冑T,

共23兲 P共r兲 ⬇ ␲rT.

共19兲

If ␣ = 1, the last step in Eq. 共16兲 is invalid, but the analytic form for P共t , r兲 can be directly obtained as P共t,r兲 = 2␲rt

冕

1

共22兲

,

1

0

0

(b)

冕 冕 1

1

due−2␲tr

2冑u

R共t兲 is proportional to 冑t for 1 ⬎ ␣ ⬎ 0. When ␣ ⬎ 1, a finite fraction of nodes will be connected with a single hub node and therefore we expect that R共t兲 ⬃ t in this case. Therefore, in the large t limit, R共t兲 will increase quite abruptly when the parameter ␣ exceeds 1. This tendency is indeed observed in our numerical simulations, as shown in Fig. 6.

1/t

=

1 2 2冑 −2␲r2冑t − 共1 + 2␲r2t兲e−2␲r t兴. 3 关共1 + 2␲r t兲e ␲r t

VI. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTANCE

共20兲 Therefore, when 1 / T1/4 Ⰶ r Ⰶ 1, P共r兲 is approximately given by P共r兲 ⬇

1 C , 3 ln ␲r T 2␲r2

共21兲

where C is a numerical constant, and when r Ⰶ 1 / 冑T, P共r兲 has the same form as that of Eq. 共19兲. Figure 5 plots the edge-length distributions. From this figure, one can see a good agreement between the theoretical and the numerical results. Furthermore, one can calculate the expected value of the tth edge’s geographical length as

For an arbitrary path i0 → i1 → ¯ → in from node i0 to in, n−1 riuiu+1, where rij the corresponding geographical length is 兺u=0 denotes the length of edge eij. Accordingly, the geographical distance between two nodes is defined as the minimal geographical length of all the paths connecting them. Now, we calculate the geographical distance s共i兲 between the ith node and the first node. Since our network is a tree graph, s共i兲 does not depend on time. By using the mean-field theory, we have

s共t + 1兲 = or

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+ ¯共t r + 1兲

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s共t + 1兲 =

1 A

冕

1

duF␣

1/t

冉冊

1 W s共ut兲 + 冑t + 1 , u

共25兲

where, according to Eq. 共22兲,

冕 冕 1

W=

1

2 冑A

duF

3␣/2

共1/u兲

0

1

.

TABLE I. Empirical degree distributions for geographical transportation networks. Data class

Data set

Degree distribution

Power grid

Southern California 关26兴 Whole US 关15兴 Italy 关14兴

Exponentiala p共k兲 ⬃ e−0.5k p共k兲 ⬃ e−0.55k

Subway

Boston 关28兴 Seoul 关29兴 Tokyo 关29兴

Narrow: kmax ⬍ 10 Narrow: kmax ⬍ 10 Narrow: kmax ⬍ 10

Railway

India 关10兴 Switzerland 关30兴 Central Europe 关30兴

p共k兲 ⬃ e−0.085k Exponential Exponential

Kraków 关31兴 Warsaw 关31兴 Szczecin 关31兴 Białystok 关31兴

Narrow: kmax = 11 Narrow: kmax = 13b Narrow: kmax = 18 Narrow: kmax = 19

World Wide 关11兴 China 关32兴 India 关33兴

p共k兲 ⬃ k−2.0c p共k兲 ⬃ k−2.05d p共k兲 ⬃ k−2.2

共26兲

␣

duF 共1/u兲

0

It is not difficult to see that s共t兲 has an upper bound as t approaches infinity. One can use the trial solution s共t兲 = B − C / t␤ to test this conclusion: B − C/共t + 1兲␤ = B − CE/共At␤兲 + W/冑t + 1,

共27兲

where E=

冕

Bus and Tramway 1

duF␣共1/u兲共1/u␤兲.

共28兲

1/t

From Eq. 共27兲, one obtains that ␤ = 1 / 2. Similar to the solution of Eq. 共13兲, s共t兲 → 1 as t → ⬁ for ␣ = 0 and s共t兲 → 1 / 冑2 as t → ⬁ for ␣ = 1. However, it only reveals some qualitative property, and the exact numbers are not meaningful. This is because the value of s共t兲 is obtained by the average over infinite configurations for infinite t, while in one evolving process s共t兲 is mainly determined by the randomly assigned coordinates of the tth node. VII. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

In many real-life transportation networks, the geographical effect cannot be ignored. Some scientists proposed certain global optimal algorithms to account for the geographical effect on the structure of a static network 关19,20兴. On the other hand, many real networks grow continuously. Therefore, we proposed a growing network model based on an optimal policy involving both topological and geographical measures. We found that the degree distribution will be broader when the topological ingredient plays a more important role 共i.e., larger ␣兲, and when ␣ exceeds a critical value ␣c = 1, a finite fraction of nodes will be connected with a single hub node and the geographical effect will become insignificant. This critical point can also be observed when detecting the total geographical edge-length R共t兲 in the large t limit. We obtained some analytical solutions for degree distribution, edge-length distribution, and topological as well as geographical distances, based on reasonable approximations, which are well verified by simulations. Although the present model is based on some ideal assumptions, it can, at least qualitatively, reproduce some key properties of the real transportation networks. In Table I, we list some empirical degree distributions of transportation networks. Clearly, when building a new airport, we tend to first open some flights connected with previously central airports which are often of very large degrees. Even though the central airports may be far from the new one, to open a direct flight is relatively convenient since one does not need to

Airport

a

In Ref. 关2兴, the authors claimed that this distribution follows a power-law form p共k兲 ⬃ k−␥ with exponent ␥ ⬇ 4. Actually, when ␥ becomes larger, the network will topologically become closer to the random graph 关27兴. b In Ref. 关30兴, the authors displayed an exponential degree distribution of mass transportation networks in Warsaw. c Actually a truncated power-law distribution. d Actually a double power-law distribution.

build a physical link. Therefore, the geographical effect is very small in the architecture of airport networks, which corresponds to the case of larger ␣ that leads to an approximately power-law degree distribution. For other four cases shown in Table I, a physical link, which costs much, is necessary if one wants to connect two nodes, thus the geographical effect plays a more important role, which corresponds to the case of smaller ␣ that leads to a relatively narrow distribution. A specific measure of geographical network is its edgelength distribution. A very recent empirical study 关19兴 shows that the edge-length distribution of the highly heterogenous networks 共e.g., airport networks, corresponding to the present model with larger ␣兲 displays a single-peak function with the maximal edge length about five times longer than the peaked value 共see Fig. 1共c兲 of Ref. 关19兴兲, while in the extreme homogenous networks 共e.g., railway networks, corresponding to the present model with ␣ → 0兲, only the very short edge can exist 共see Fig. 1共a兲 of Ref. 关19兴兲. These empirical results agree well with the theoretical predictions of the present model. First, when ␣ is obviously larger than zero, the edge-length distribution is single peaked with its maximal edge length about six times longer than the peak value 共see Fig. 5兲. And, when ␣ is close to zero, Eq. 共17兲 degenerates to the form

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GEOGRAPHICAL NETWORKS EVOLVING WITH AN…

P共r兲 =

2 , ␲r A N 3 2

APPENDIX: THE SOLUTION OF l„t…

共29兲

where N denotes the network size. Clearly, in the large N limit, except a very few initially generated edges, only the edge of very small length r can exist. The analytical approach is only valid for the tree structure with m = 1. However, we have checked that all the results will not change qualitatively if m is not too large compared with the network size. Some analytical methods proposed here are simple but useful, and may be applied to some other related problems about the statistical properties of complex networks. For example, a similar 共but much simpler兲 approach, taken in Sec. IV, can also be used to estimate the average topological distance for some other geographical networks 关34,35兴. Finally, it is worthwhile to emphasize that, the geographical effects should also be taken into account when investigating the efficiency 共e.g., the traffic throughput 关36兴兲 of transportation networks. Very recently, some authors started to consider the geographical effects on dynamical processes, such as epidemic spreading 关37兴 and cascading 关38兴, over scale-free networks. We hope the present work can further enlighten the readers on this interesting subject.

Substituting Eq. 共4兲 into Eq. 共7兲, one obtains that l共t + 1兲 = Then, define B=A

1 A

再冕

1

冕

1

duF␣

1/t

冉冊

1 l共ut兲 + 1. u

duF␣共1/u兲ln共1/u兲

0

冎

共A1兲

−1

.

共A2兲

We next prove that l共t兲 ⬇ B ln t in the large t limit by using mathematical induction. Suppose for sufficiently large t, all l共i兲 are less than C ln共i兲 for i 艋 t with C being a constant greater than B. Then, from Eq. 共A1兲, we have l共t + 1兲 艋

C A

=−

冕

1

duF␣

1/t

冉冊

1 ln共ut兲 + 1 u

冉冊

1 C + 1 + M ln共t兲 + O B t

艋 C ln共t + 1兲.

共A3兲

Therefore, l共i兲 艋 C ln共i兲 for all i. Similarly, suppose for sufficiently large t, all l共i兲 are greater than Q ln i for i 艋 t with Q being a constant less than B. Then, from Eq. 共A1兲, we have l共t + 1兲 艌

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Q A

冕

1

1/t

duF␣

冉冊

1 ln共ut兲 + 1 u

冉冊

1 Q 艌 Q ln共t + 1兲. + 1 + M ln共t兲 + O B t

The authors wish to thank Dr. Hong-Kun Liu for providing us some very helpful data on Chinese city-airport networks. This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants No. 10635040, No. 70471033, and No. 10472116, the Special Research Founds for Theoretical Physics Frontier Problems under Grant No. A0524701, and Specialized Program under the Presidential Funds of the Chinese Academy of Science.

Therefore, l共i兲 艌 Q ln共i兲 for all i. Combining both the upper bound 共A3兲 and lower bound 共A4兲, we obtain the order of l共t兲 in the large t limit, as l共t兲 ⬇ B ln共t兲.

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=−

共A4兲

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关19兴 关20兴 关21兴 关22兴

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关27兴 关28兴

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